Chapter 1129: Concealment
"Annoying…"
Yun Yao waved her hand to disperse the smoke before her eyes as she threaded her way through the chaos on her own.
The thick smoke was dissipating, but Yun Yao's expression grew darker by the second.
Because she hadn't spotted Tian Tian in the crowd.
She wasn't entirely sure which faction Tian Tian was fighting for now. After all, the two "Heavenly-level Moments" had thrown all the factions into disarray, and Chu Tianqiu had mentioned that Tian Tian was involved in the Earth Dragon Game. But in the end, she had stayed there, and it was still unknown whether she was alive or dead.
Yet she had clearly seen Doctor Zhao and Han Yimo just now—so why hadn't Tian Tian come out?
"Foolish child… where are you…"
Yun Yao frowned as she walked forward. Attackers kept coming at her from all sides, but whenever they got close, they either tripped over their own feet or dropped their weapons. Some even swung wildly and accidentally wounded their own comrades.
Yun Yao moved through the chaos as if it were nothing, her eyes completely ignoring the enemies around her as she searched the crowd for Tian Tian.
If anyone on the field could claim that, amid the explosions and enemies swarming from every direction, they hadn't so much as had a hair touched, it would be Yun Yao.
Here, she could see Doctor Zhao and Han Yimo, and even Zheng Yingxiong, but aside from them, there seemed to be no one else connected to Qi Xia.
She cautiously realized she might have come to the wrong place. If Qi Xia wasn't here, then Tian Tian most likely wouldn't appear either.
Yun Yao felt the smoke before her thinning. She waved her hand and confirmed that visibility had indeed improved compared to a moment ago.
"Seems like it's Zhong Zhen's 'Thick Smoke'…" Yun Yao muttered with a frown. "Did he come too?"
She took two more steps forward and vaguely spotted the White Tiger up ahead. It appeared that in her disoriented sense of direction, she had unknowingly approached the central area.
Even though she possessed "Strong Luck," to be safe, she couldn't afford to challenge the White Tiger's conviction. Just as Yun Yao was about to retreat, she suddenly sensed something off. She looked up at the white smoke gradually fading in the air, then slowly widened her eyes.
Something about this situation seemed bizarre…
Many of the "participants" fighting nearby also seemed to notice something. They gradually stopped what they were doing and stared up toward the White Tiger with shocked expressions.
The White Tiger shook off the "puppets" before him and finally got his bearings in the dispersing smoke.
He looked around at the gradually clearing field and realized that the "puppets" were no longer under control, and the one who had been controlling them had long since vanished.
Those who had been attacking him from a distance through the smoke had now retreated far away. With the smoke gone, only a tall, slender woman remained before him.
"Ridiculous…"
The White Tiger suddenly raised his hand, summoning a gale that blew away the remaining wisps of smoke.
He stared at Yun Yao for a moment and said hoarsely, "I'll make an example of you…"
But before he could act, he noticed that everyone present was looking up at something behind him. A sense of unease began to spread in his heart.
The White Tiger turned around stiffly, slowly raised his head, and looked behind him. Then, as if struck by lightning, he froze in place.
Where the giant bell and screen should have stood, there was now nothing.
Not a trace of the bell or the screen—not even fragments.
It was as if that small plaza had never held a giant bell or a screen at all.
"Wha…" The White Tiger's lips trembled. The world seemed to spin around him.
What the hell was going on?
A structure that massive had been destroyed, yet not only was there no debris, he hadn't even heard any sound…?
His mind was in chaos, with only one thought circling endlessly—
It's all over.
"Too… too audacious…" The White Tiger's entire body began to tremble. "If those two truly become enraged… all the 'participants' are finished…"
But none of the people in the plaza moved. After the White Tiger blew away the smoke, they realized they hadn't been mistaken.
The giant bell and screen were gone.
The "Extremists" seemed to realize they had somehow completed their mission amid the chaos, while the "Supporters" realized they had somehow failed theirs in the fog.
Everyone stopped, at a loss. The square was eerily silent.
"It's over… it's all over…" the White Tiger muttered to himself. "I knew it was wrong for everyone to come back… this definitely isn't right!!"
In the crowded square, only the White Tiger's roar remained.
"No… no…" The White Tiger lowered his head shakily and grabbed his disheveled hair. "I must be going crazy… I've been waiting too long… I'm insane… The bell is still there… I'm just crazy…"
Yan Zhichun smoothed her hair and felt the situation had become rather tricky.
After all, she knew what team she had sent out. The ability best suited for destroying the giant bell and screen in that team was called "Disintegration." In theory, if the bell and screen had truly been destroyed, there should have been a pile of fragments left.
But now there were no fragments at all. It was as if the bell and screen had vanished into thin air.
Yan Zhichun squinted toward where the bell had stood. There stood Xiao Xiao, Jin Yuanxun, and Lin Qin, but Doctor Zhao was nowhere to be seen.
She lowered her head and began to ponder the situation. As the "Extreme King," she had to give orders based on the battlefield conditions, even with no information to go on.
This order would determine the survival of the entire "Extreme" faction.
Doctor Zhao was missing, and the bell was gone, but Xiao Xiao and Lin Qin in the distance didn't look panicked.
"No…" Yan Zhichun keenly noticed something odd.
They weren't panicked because Doctor Zhao was missing, nor were they overjoyed because the bell was gone. That could only mean one thing—the mission hadn't failed, but it also hadn't been completed.
So the mission was still ongoing.
Disappeared…?
Yan Zhichun unconsciously mimicked Bai Yang's habit of rubbing her chin. A flash of inspiration hit her, and she felt there was one person who could connect all the dots.
After all, the massive voice from the sky had just announced that all "Human-level Zodiacs" could leave their posts.
He had come. He had made the bell disappear.
But since the "disappearance" was just a smokescreen, he had to "conceal" Doctor Zhao as well to carry out a prolonged destruction. So… they still needed a little more time.
"Indeed… every thing we've done in the past creates 'karma' at critical moments…" Yan Zhichun murmured.
"And 'deeds.'" Jiang Ruoxue reminded her softly.
"'Deeds'…" Yan Zhichun nodded. "Our results are heading in a good direction… does that mean we're accumulating great 'good deeds'?"
"According to Aunt Tong, it just means each of us believes we are accumulating 'good deeds.'"
Yan Zhichun took a deep breath and said to Zhou Mo behind her, "Send a 'telepathic message' to as many survivors as possible. The mission is about to be completed. Everyone, attack the White Tiger with your lives on the line."
"'About to be' completed?" Zhou Mo was startled, but he immediately lowered his head and began sending rapid messages to individuals.